Secret Garden florals with Itty Bitty Banners

The new Stampin' Up seasonal Catalogue has just been released but I'm not ready to leave the flowery projects behind just yet. My tiny garden has put on a lovely display this year - and there have been plenty of flowers blooming on my stamp shelves too! It's great fun to use floral stamp sets to stamp a whole sheet of A4 with a design and then chop it up to make card toppers - like this one:

I chose one outlined and one solid flower image and stamped them randomly, filling some of the gaps with the leaf image. Some of the outlined blooms were coloured with ink and an aquapainter and some were left uncoloured, and I added centres to the flowers using markers. Finally I sponged a little Island Indigo ink in any gaps that were left.

The sentiment is from Itty Bitty Banners. I quite often use it like this with only one ribbon-tailed side showing as if it's been folded behind the panel.

You don't need many supplies to make these kind of cards and it's fun to combine different colours giving a new look each time. Why not add a touch of glitter or a few gems too?!

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Secret Garden, Itty Bitty Banners
Ink: Crushed Curry, Rich Razzleberry, Island Indigo, Pear Pizzazz
Card stock: Whisper White 
Other: Markers, aquapainter
I CAN ORDER STAMPIN' UP ITEMS FOR YOU AND HAVE THEM DELIVERED STRAIGHT TO YOUR ADDRESS IN THE UK. I'M COMMITTED TO PROVIDING EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE AND AM ALWAYS HAPPY TO OFFER HELP AND ADVICE. TO FIND OUT MORE OR TO PLACE YOUR ORDER, JUST SEND ME AN EMAIL OR GIVE ME A CALL ON 01280 820593.

We went to visit my sister and her small son yesterday. After lunch we made the most of the good weather by going round to the park - a great space with the sort of innovative equipment that interested even my jaded teenagers. We had a lovely time but the highlight was a comedy moment when one woman shouted: "I want to go now! I've been here for three hours and I don't even live here! I only came here to go shopping!" Her daughter got off the zip wire reluctantly. "None of the other mums are moaning," she was heard to mutter as she was dragged away.

Have a lovely weekend and I'll see you very soon,

Three minute notelet - and a new stampin' Up catalogue

As the evenings begin to draw in and autumn approaches, Stampin' Up has produced a fabulous new catalogue to cover all the events of the season. As always, there are plenty of exciting new goodies and some gorgeous projects too! Click the picture of the catalogue below to have a browse and get in touch. to order items or if you'd like a copy to curl up with.

And there's MORE exciting news today with a very special offer involving butterflies. Check it out on my Special Offers page.

We're definitely feeling the onset of autumn now with only one more week of the school holidays left. I love the holidays although it can be challenging - relaxing with the family one minute and struggling to catch up with life the next! Today's  little notelet was made in one of the frantic moments - but that's what Three Minute Thursday is all about: cards in minutes! Come and see:

The moment I saw the new Off The Grid background stamp, I wanted to try it with a floral! I stamped it on a card base made with core'dinations card stock to emphasise the griddiness (yay! it's a new word!) of the image and added the scribbled-style flower from the Flower Shop set with a matching candy dot. This bold, flowing sentiment from Perfectly Penned finished the card off.

I was so pleased with this little card I made three more of them in different colours - which just proves how speedy they are!

Here's what you'll need to make this set of cards
Stamps: Flower Shop, Off The Grid, Perfectly Penned
Ink: Sahara Sand, Early Espresso, Crushed Curry, Wild Wasabi, Bermuda Bay, Rich Razzleberry
Card stock: Whisper White core'dinations
Other: Candy dots, stamp-a-majig
I CAN ORDER STAMPIN' UP ITEMS FOR YOU AND HAVE THEM DELIVERED STRAIGHT TO YOUR ADDRESS IN THE UK. I'M COMMITTED TO PROVIDING EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE AND AM ALWAYS HAPPY TO OFFER HELP AND ADVICE. TO FIND OUT MORE OR TO PLACE YOUR ORDER, JUST SEND ME AN EMAIL OR GIVE ME A CALL ON 01280 820593.

Talking of speedy, the children and I were watching a film the other evening when a large spider strolled out from under a chair to join us. He wasn't entirely welcome (!) and I banged the floor behind him to send him towards the open French windows. This had the desired effect and he took to his heels and galloped outside. "My goodness," said my older son with respect. "He really can move can't he?!" I nodded. "I expect they call him Spidey Gonzalez!" I said which, I reckon, was pretty speedy of my poor brain too!

See you tomorrow,

Simply sketched with a bit of washi

I'm always fascinated by embellishments and how they can change the look of a card and washi tape has to be one of my favourites. Today's card, inspired by Less is More's washi tape challenge this week, shows how washi can give a modern twist to a traditional style of card. Come and see:

I'd been dying to make a scene with this little bird from the Simply Sketched hostess stamp set ever since it arrived in July. The background was made with a bit of quick sponging then the bird image was stamped over the top. TIP: don't forget you can turn the image upside down and stamp the stems too!

To give a bit more depth, I added a few 'grasses' with a light touch of the side of an ink pad, and some more frondy ones with that useful grassy stamp from Wetlands. The bird was coloured with a few strokes of an aquapainter.

The sentiment was heat embossed in white on black card stock to give a ticker-tape feel and the panel was attached to the card base with the gorgeous coral washi tape from the Epic Day set (Stampin' Up washi tape comes in sets of three coordinating tapes.)

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Simply Sketched, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Wetlands
Ink: Always Artichoke, Old Olive, Soft Sky, Baked Brown Sugar
Card stock: Whisper White, Basic Black
Other: Versamark, white embossing powder, heat tool, Epic Day washi tape, markers, aquapainter
I CAN ORDER STAMPIN' UP ITEMS FOR YOU AND HAVE THEM DELIVERED STRAIGHT TO YOUR ADDRESS IN THE UK. I'M COMMITTED TO PROVIDING EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE AND AM ALWAYS HAPPY TO OFFER HELP AND ADVICE. TO FIND OUT MORE OR TO PLACE YOUR ORDER, JUST SEND ME AN EMAIL OR GIVE ME A CALL ON 01280 820593.

Birds are funny old things aren't they? I could watch them all day. While we were on holiday in Kent we were entertained by this pair of seagulls having a fight over a morsel of food.

They were like a pair of enraged old ladies, screaming and scolding and slapping each other with their wings and they just wouldn't let it go! Of course I know just how I'd feel if someone nicked a spoonful of my ice cream sundae without asking!

See you tomorrow,

Welcome with Summer Silhouettes

As the holidays draw to an end and autumn approaches, I find that this is a great time of year to sit back and take stock of life, to work out what's working and what's not, and make a few adjustments.

One of the things that definitely IS working for me is being a Stampin' Up demonstrator. I love the way it enables me to make money doing something I love; fits around my family life; satisfies my need to create; and introduces me to lovely people who share my passion.

Perhaps you've been wishing for something like this in your life too? Maybe you've been wondering about joining Stampin' Up but aren't sure if it would work for you? If this is you, I'd be more than happy to chat about it with you, let you know how it works, and answer your questions. Just give me a call on 01280 820593 or email me here.

It's so exciting deciding what you want in your starter kit (it only costs £99 and you get £132-worth of Stampin' up goodies as well as your business supplies!) and it's like Christmas opening your box when it arrives! I like to welcome new members of my team with a gift too. Here's one I made earlier on in the year:

As well as my exclusive Inkredibles handbook that I've written to help you get started, you'll get colour swatches of all the current card stock, plus...

... a notebook to keep track of all your amazing ideas and...

... some chocolate to keep your strength up - after all, unpacking all those goodies from your starter kit is exhausting! This one's wrapped in the gorgeous Polka Dot Parade designer paper and decorated with punched flowers and leaves and some beautiful stitched satin ribbon.

No gift would be complete without a card of course! This one is made using one of my favourite colour combinations as well as one of my favourite stamp sets of all time - Summer Silhouettes.

Isn't this a lovely sentiment?! It's one of the clever stamps from the useful Occasions Alphabet set which fit perfectly in the Ticket duo builder punch.

• If you'd like to join my team of Inkredibles, click here and follow the links.

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Summer Silhouettes, Occasions Alphabet
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Summer Starfruit, Gumball Green, Cherry Cobbler plus Island Indigo for sponging
Card stock: Whisper White
Other:  Pumpkin Pie taffeta ribbon, Ticket duo builder punch
I CAN ORDER STAMPIN' UP ITEMS FOR YOU AND HAVE THEM DELIVERED STRAIGHT TO YOUR ADDRESS IN THE UK. I'M COMMITTED TO PROVIDING EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE AND AM ALWAYS HAPPY TO OFFER HELP AND ADVICE. TO FIND OUT MORE OR TO PLACE YOUR ORDER, JUST SEND ME AN EMAIL OR GIVE ME A CALL ON 01280 820593.

It's been a holiday weekend here and we drove to Somerset to visit family. The place we stayed in featured a surprising bead curtain leading through to the bathroom. My husband disapproved of this, much to my amusement. "You feel as if you're about to have a tarot reading every time you go to the loo!" he grumbled.

See you tomorrow,

Embellished Events for a new baby

It's always good to have a few baby cards in your stash and I was looking at my Embellished Events stamp set the other day when an idea popped into my head. Come and see:

Using my stamp-a-majig and markers I turned the little duck on wheels image into a linking pull-along. My children loved these kind of toys when they were small but could never connect the carriages themselves, so it was a toy that we always played with together so that I could help if they wanted me to.

How cute are these little ducks?!! Embellished Events is very useful as it has images for a variety occasions and sentiments too, but it's also great fun as it's designed to use with embellishments - and we all love embellishments! I used my lovely candy dots in Cherry Cobbler to highlight the wheels (SO much easier than brads!) and added some Cherry Cobbler bakers twine as the 'pull'...

... and because this is Stampin' Up and everything coordinates, I was able to stamp my sentiment in Cherry Cobbler too!

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Embellished Events
Ink: Cherry Cobbler classic ink, Marina Mist, Pacific Point and Basic Black markers
Card stock: Very Vanilla smooth and Coredinations card stock
Other:  Candy dots and bakers twine in Cherry Cobbler, stamp-a-majig
I CAN ORDER STAMPIN' UP ITEMS FOR YOU AND HAVE THEM DELIVERED STRAIGHT TO YOUR ADDRESS IN THE UK. I'M COMMITTED TO PROVIDING EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE AND AM ALWAYS HAPPY TO OFFER HELP AND ADVICE. TO FIND OUT MORE OR TO PLACE YOUR ORDER, JUST SEND ME AN EMAIL OR GIVE ME A CALL ON 01280 820593.

I showed this card to my youngest son, who takes an interest in my stamping activities. "What are the ducks doing?" he asked. I explained about the pull-along toy and his face cleared. "Oh!" he said with relief. "I thought it was a gang of ducks skateboarding and I thought, what's got into Mummy?!" Oh dear, and there was me thinking it was such a sweet little card!

See you tomorrow,

Celebrate a new baby with Sweets for the Sweet

Hello there! I've been recharging the old batteries for the last couple of weeks and have returned all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and ready to stamp! Today's (very pink) card was made to celebrate the arrival of a lovely baby girl and features little windmills - perfect, I thought, for this week's Less is More challenge where the theme is 'Round and Round'. Come and see:

The stamp set I used is called Sweets for the Sweet which contains some gorgeous lollipop/sweet images along with a variety of windmills and these candy-cane-style sticks. The pink and white colour scheme reminds me of marshmallows!

Whenever I see these kind of windmills I think of someone jumping up and down shouting 'woohoo!' (please tell me I'm not alone!) and so I think they're just right to celebrate a new baby. These were stamped in yummy Strawberry Slush and centred with the fabulous new love of my life: Candy Dots.

The simple 'celebrate' sentiment is from the Embellished Events stamp set - now there's another useful set! - with the exclamation mark added with a matching marker.  I underlined the word with a strip of card stock and some gorgeous washi tape, and the edge of the card stock was trimmed with my scallop border punch.

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Sweets for the Sweet, Embellished Events
Ink: Raspberry Ripple, Strawberry Slush
Card stock: Whisper White, Pink Pirourette
Other:  Scallop border punch, Gingham Garden washi tape, Neutrals candy dots, Stamp-a-majig
I CAN ORDER STAMPIN' UP ITEMS FOR YOU AND HAVE THEM DELIVERED STRAIGHT TO YOUR ADDRESS IN THE UK. I'M COMMITTED TO PROVIDING EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE AND AM ALWAYS HAPPY TO OFFER HELP AND ADVICE. TO FIND OUT MORE OR TO PLACE YOUR ORDER, JUST SEND ME AN EMAIL OR GIVE ME A CALL ON 01280 820593.

Isn't it fun to make baby cards?! When my new Stampin' Up catalogue arrived, my youngest son curled up on the sofa with me to have a look at the new offerings. When he saw the baby image in the Sweetest Gift stamp set he frowned. "Babies don't do parachute jumping!" he said disapprovingly!

Thank you for visiting me today. I shall be back to blogging regularly again now so I'll be back on Monday. Hope to see you then,

Morning Meadow in Regals - and news from Stampin' Up!

One of my favourite card styles at the moment is the front panel with an aperture and you may recognise the layout of today's creation - I made similar ones here and here. Framelits are brilliant for making the apertures and they make it easy to add a frame too, but for speed you can't beat the good old punch! Come and see:

The 2 1/2" circle punch is one of my most-used punches and it makes short work of this style of card. I inked my Morning Meadow flower image up with markers and stamped through a mask before placing the aperture panel over the top. TIP: When punching the aperture panel, layer the card stock with a same-sized piece of thin paper and punch through both together - you can use the thin paper as the mask for stamping/sponging and your image will be in exactly the right place.

The large flower from the Morning Meadow set contrasts beautifully with the smaller one and, once stamped, it punches out so quickly and easily with the new Pansy punch. (The new Stampin' Up catalogue features lots of stamp sets that coordinate with punches or framelits and there's a handy 15% discount when you buy both together.) I centred the flower with the new love of my life - a candy dot. I adore the Stampin' Up ones - they are brilliant quality (and it shows), they come in all the colour families, they're self-adhesive, and they can also be used as a brad by adding to a brad base.

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Morning Meadow, Wetlands (sentiment)
Ink: Elegant Eggplant and Garden Green markers
Card stock: Whisper White, Daffodil Delight core'dinations
Other:  Pansy and 2 1/2" circle punches, Garden Green candy dot, stamp-a-majig
I CAN ORDER STAMPIN' UP ITEMS FOR YOU AND HAVE THEM DELIVERED STRAIGHT TO YOUR ADDRESS IN THE UK. I'M COMMITTED TO PROVIDING EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE AND AM ALWAYS HAPPY TO OFFER HELP AND ADVICE. TO FIND OUT MORE OR TO PLACE YOUR ORDER, JUST SEND ME AN EMAIL OR GIVE ME A CALL ON 01280 820593.

STOP PRESS! New releases and a special offer!
1. If you own the Stampin' Trimmer you're likely to be a big fan of its large cutting area, its ability to cut and score a card base in seconds without fiddling about taking blades in and out, its cutting guard that locks into place giving a really accurate straight cut every time, its portability... oh I could go on and on! Well, now you can set that fabulous trimmer can work even harder with the launch of the new Rotary Addition:

You just whisk the cutting guard out of the trimmer and replace it with the Rotary add-on guard, turn the cutting mat and tada! - you have a rotary cutter! There are also several gorgeous decorative blades available including my personal favourite, the perforating cartridge.
You can see the new items on pages 176-177 of the annual catalogue.

2. A new 'Best of' Stamp set has been released! Best of Shelli is the latest in the 25th anniversary celebration series and is available until March 2014. It comes in cling mount only at £13.95.

3.  Why not bag yourself a free pack of designer paper? During the month of August, you'll get a free pack of designer paper when you buy three packs. (This applies to the regular packs not the speciality papers or the stacks.) Check out all the gorgeous designs on pages 151, 153 and 154 of the annual catalogue.

Talking of availability, this will be my last post for a week or two as I make myself more available to my family. Thank you as always for visiting me here and for your support, and I'll be back soon. I'll leave you with the words of my small nephew, who had entertainingly missed the point: "Bye alligator!"

Hugs,

One layer Morning Meadow birds on a wire

I'm very drawn to bird images and there's a lovely one in the Morning Meadow hostess set I'm show-casing this week. Being a solid stamp it's perfect for the kissing technique but that's another story... Today, I used it to make a quick, one layer card for my Three Minute Thursday spot. Come and see:

I've made a graphic 'bird on a wire' card! I drew the 'wires' directly onto one of the new heavyweight pre-cut notecards with the fine end of my Sahara Sand marker using a ruler as a guide, then added the birds using a stamp-a-majig. Using markers to ink them up meant I could leave the legs off the birds. I'm always saying this, but I really recommend having colours in both markers and ink pads as it really broadens your stamping horizons. I adore my lovely, big, juicy ink pads but if I were asked to choose between them and my markers, I would take the pens every time for their sheer versatility.

The sentiment is from another gorgeous new stamp set called Regarding Dahlias. I love the bold style of it and it balances the block colour of the birds well. I doodled eyes on the birds for a tiny bit of  detail (using those pens again!) but this kind of card doesn't need much detail as it's all about colour and shape.

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Morning Meadow, Regarding Dahlias
Ink: Early Espresso classic ink; Sahara Sand, Island Indigo, Garden Green, Elegant Eggplant markers
Card stock: Heavyweight notecards (come with envelopes)
Other:  Stamp-a-majig
I CAN ORDER STAMPIN' UP ITEMS FOR YOU AND HAVE THEM DELIVERED STRAIGHT TO YOUR ADDRESS IN THE UK. I'M COMMITTED TO PROVIDING EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE AND AM ALWAYS HAPPY TO OFFER HELP AND ADVICE. TO FIND OUT MORE OR TO PLACE YOUR ORDER, JUST SEND ME AN EMAIL OR GIVE ME A CALL ON 01280 820593.

Yesterday we celebrated the birthday of someone very special - my gorgeous eldest son. As his friends all seemed to be away on holiday, he decided to go shopping in the excellent company of his mother's credit card... er, I mean his mother! My son adores dogs (in fact, regular readers of my blog will remember that we own an imaginary golden retriever called Aramis) and his sister had thoughtfully bought him this pair of socks:

I was much entertained to see them appear while he was trying on shoes! We had a great afternoon and you'll be pleased to know that my son has been kitted out with all sorts of trendy items of clothing which will transform him, no doubt, into what I understand is termed a 'babe magnet'! (And in case you're wondering, my son would never use such a ghastly phrase!)

See you tomorrow,